Acknowledge
by CuriousRuby
Summary: Kenny just wants to be acknowledged. Is violence the only way? !Bunny!


**Hey, it's been awhile! I've been super busy with my new job, but I felt like it's been too long and quickly wrote this up! I hope you enjoy!**

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All of South Park was occupying downtown for the annual Spring Festival. Every year, the small town in Colorado, celebrated the beginning of spring and the welcoming of the blooming flowers. At least, that's what the elders say. The young kids of South Park just attend for the games and food.

Especially for a group of high school boys, who were just arriving at the festival in the afternoon.

"I can't believe we missed the opening band," the red head of the small group of friends complained. "I told you guys we should have woken up earlier."

"Whatever, Kyle, it was just some hippie band. They were probably lame," the more heavyweight boy said with a wave of his hand as to dismiss the topic. The group approached the entrance where the single ticket booth was located.

"I like that band, Cartman! You've never even heard them play before, so you can't make an accurate assessment with nothing to go off of," Kyle stated as he paid for his ticket and waited for the others. "Stan likes the band, too, so we both would have liked to have seen them."

"Oh, the hippie likes the hippie band. Big shocker," Cartman rolled his eyes while he made an exaggerated gesture to the raven haired boy next to him. "You two should have gone together then and made a date out of it. No need to let Kenny or myself interrupt you guys." Cartman gave his money to the employee and received his ticket.

"You know Kyle doesn't like it when you say stuff like that," Stan told him as he moved up to the booth.

"Are you saying you don't mind?" Cartman gave Stan a disgusted look before continuing. "Are you two actually dating? It wouldn't surprise me, of course, but I wouldn't want to hang out with a bunch of faggots. It might rub off on me."

Suddenly, Cartman felt a pang in his arm as he was punched by the hooded one of the group. "Would you shut up? You're annoying," Kenny said passively. Cartman didn't say anything more, knowing that the other boy would attack him if he talked back.

Kenny had been more aggressive lately and nobody knew why. He would start fights at school and recently he started to drink and do drugs on campus. He would have been expelled by now if he didn't go to South Park High. Fortunately, their school was lenient and their current principle had started treating Kenny as a project to try and conform him into a good student.

After they had all paid for their tickets, they headed for the center of the festival, which was more like a small carnival. There were carnival games, food stands, and even a few rides.

"What do you guys want to do first?" Stan asked, looking around at all the activities.

"I'm starving!" Without another word, Cartman stormed towards the food stands, not bothering to see if the others would follow.

"Of course he is. It's been a whole 30 minutes since we ate those doughnuts." Kyle huffed and reluctantly followed the other boy.

As the group reached a hot dog stand, they noticed a familiar face working behind the counter.

"Hey, fellas!" A bright smile covered the blonde's face as he waved at the group.

"Butters!" Stand replied, giving a small smile himself. "I didn't know you were going to be working here."

"I'm volunteering. My mom said if I wanted to go to the festival, I had to do something productive while I was here. I thought giving my services at one of the food stands would suffice. I'm actually about to get off."

"Would you like to hang out with us then?" Stan offered, knowing he'd be the only one to do it. Cartman could be heard muttering about more faggots joining and how he was going to be infected, but Butters simply ignored him and his face lit up at the notion and nodded his head vigorously. He was worried about what to do after he finished up his volunteering, but now he had some friends to hang out with.

When the boys finished eating their individual lunches, Butters was just getting off from the hot dog stand.

"We should go play some of the carnival games," Kyle suggested as everyone gathered into a circle.

"I'm in! I'm sure I can beat your ass at the Baseball Toss," Stan said to his ginger friend with a smug grin. Kyle took him up on his challenge and the two of them rushed off towards the cheap-looking games.

Cartman looked at his remaining company and felt himself frown. There was no way he was going to be stuck with the destructive druggie and the wimpy girl. He looked around and saw that Craig Tucker was in the Dunk Tank looking confident that nobody would dunk him. "I'm going over there," Cartman vaguely motioned to where the Dunk Tank was. "Don't follow me." He rushed off before the other two could say anything.

Butters looked up at Kenny and examined his new carnival buddy. It had been awhile since he had been alone with Kenny. When Kenny started getting hostile, Butters tried to talk to him to see if he could help, but Kenny just pushed him away and told him to leave him alone. Butters knew that Kenny would never hurt him, just like he never laid a hand on Stan or Kyle. Kenny only went after people who tried to attack him or his family and friends. Butters knew this, because he was always watching Kenny, hoping he would open up to him, but the older teen had completely shut himself off from others. It was a surprise that he even still hung out with Stan, Kyle, and Cartman.

"So, whatcha wanna do, Ken?" Butters asked, making sure to put on his usual smile. Kenny looked down at Butters, his hood covering most of his face. He shrugged his shoulders and then looked away, shoving his hands into his pockets. Not feeling defeated, Butters looked around for a good activity for both of them to play.

He noticed a Dart Game that nobody was at and grabbed Kenny's arm for his attention. "We should go play that!" He said, pointing at the lonely booth. Kenny looked over to where the other boy pointed and simply let the smaller boy pull him towards the area.

When they reached the booth, Butters let go of Kenny's arm and put up three fingers to show the vendor. "We want three darts each, please!"

"That'll be two dollars," the monotone employee said, hardly looking up at his costumers. Butters grabbed for his wallet, but was stopped when Kenny pulled out two crumpled dollar bills from his pocket and placed them on the counter.

"Oh, no, you don't have to pay for me, Ken!" Butters tried to get out his own dollar, but Kenny ignored him and urged for the vendor to take his money. The vendor, who didn't seem to care at all, just took the money from Kenny handed him six darts.

"Here." Kenny pressed three of the darts into Butters hands and backed away, so the other could go first.

"You really didn't need to do that," Butters insisted, but let a small smile appear on his lips. "Thank you, though."

Butters got into position and tried to line up one of the balloons with his dart. He pulled back and threw as hard as he could, which concluded in the dart hitting the cardboard and then falling to the ground. Not letting himself get discouraged, Butters tried again and, not surprisingly, missed again. He let out a sigh and heard a chuckle from behind him. He turned around to see Kenny smirking as if he was being entertained. Butters couldn't help himself from smiling back, since it was rare to see Kenny smile anymore.

"If you're goin' to laugh at me, the least you could do is show me what I'm doin' wrong!" Butters scolded, waving a finger at the older teen. This made Kenny laugh harder as he let out a full smile which brightened up his face tremendously. Butters felt a bit of pride swell up inside him for being the one to make him smile.

"Turn around and I'll show you." Butters did as he was told as Kenny stepped closer to the other. Kenny placed his hand over Butters' that was holding the dart and positioned it towards the balloons. "Throw it like this," he said, arching Butters' hand the right way and letting go. Butters watched as the dart landed into the cardboard. It didn't hit the balloon, but at least it didn't fall to the ground, either! Butters let out a gleeful cheer as he stepped aside to let Kenny have his turn.

Kenny quickly threw all three of his darts and hit three of the balloons, one right after another. Butters watched in amazement, feeling ridiculous about his own attempts.

"You can have any one of the prizes," the vendor said, showing the few prizes he had.

"You can pick," Kenny said, moving to the side, so that Butters could see the prizes.

"Are you sure?" Butters asked, already looking at the cheaply made rings and stuffed animals. "You're the one who won. You could give it to Karen." Kenny looked at Butters, seeming surprised that he mentioned his little sister.

"She's too old for any of this stuff," he said offhandedly, but when Butters peered over at the other, he noticed that Kenny seemed sad. Not wanting to upset him, Butters didn't push the subject and continued to look over the prizes. His eyes caught an orange teddy bear that immediately reminded him of his current company. Butters smiled and pointed at the bear.

"I want him!" He said childishly and waited for the vendor to give it to him. When he had the bear in his arms, he turned to Kenny and asked, "What do you wanna do now?"

Kenny scanned the area, a little shocked that Butters was still asking him what he wanted to do. The other guys had stopped asking him years ago and they just drag him to wherever they wanted to go. Kenny spotted a little red and yellow striped tent across from where they were standing. Butters followed Kenny's eyes to see what he was looking at.

"Do you wanna go over there?" He asked, indicating the tent. Kenny didn't answer, so Butters clutched onto his wrist and headed for the tent.

They peered inside and saw a face they recognized sitting inside with a bunch of art supplies surrounding her.

"Bebe!" Butters practically yelled out, making the girl jump in surprise.

She smiled when she noticed the two boys from her school. "Hey, you guys!" She greeted, waving a pencil in their direction. "Did you come by to visit me or for me to draw you?"

"I didn't know you were working here. Are you doing caricatures?" Butters examined her area, knowing that Bebe was an amazing artist.

"No, I'm doing more realistic drawings than caricatures, but still in a cartoon format, if that makes any sense. It's only 10 bucks per person or 15 bucks for two people in one picture." She motioned at the two of them.

"Oh, Ken, let's do one together! It'll be fun!" Butters exclaimed, clapping his hand together in excitement. "And I'm paying this time." Before Kenny could argue, Butters pulled out 15 dollars and handed them to Bebe.

"Pose in any way you want. I'm a pretty fast drawer, so it won't take too long," Bebe instructed as she got her materials ready.

Butters looked over at Kenny and thought for a second. "How should we pose?"

Kenny suddenly threw his right arm around the smaller boy's shoulders and made a piece sign with his right hand. Butters was stunned by the unexpected and unusual contact. Kenny hadn't willingly touched him since elementary. "Are you going to pose?" He felt Kenny's breath in his ear as he was asked the question.

"H-how should I p-pose?" Butters mentally cursed himself as his stuttering made a reappearance after years of being able to talk fluently.

"Just do what you want," Kenny answered, not seeming to be bothered by the stuttering and slightly trembling boy. Butters wanted to slap himself for seeming so pathetic. Kenny was one of his good friends and he shouldn't be this nervous around him. Butters slowly put on a smile and raised his left hand to make his own piece sign near his face and pulled his teddy bear to his chest.

They stayed like that for a few minutes as Bebe got absorbed in her work and hastily moved her pencil across her easel. Butters tried not to think about their position and concentrated on what they should do afterwards, instead.

When Bebe was done, she turned the drawing around so the two of them could see it. "Oh, wow!" Butters looked over the picture, amazed at Bebe's talent. It looked just like them, but with cartoon characteristics. Butters looked closer and noticed that his head was titled towards Kenny's chest as if he was resting on it. He quickly dismissed the thought, deciding it was just the angle of the drawing to make it look that way.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Butters' mind. "Who gets to keep the picture?" He asked as Bebe handed it to him.

"You paid for it, you keep it," Kenny answered.

"That doesn't seem fair. We're both in the picture." Butters thought as they exited the tent and said their goodbyes to Bebe. "What if we exchanged it every week? That way we could both have it."

"It would just get destroyed at my house. It's better if you keep it." Butters huffed, realizing that he now had the teddy bear and the drawing while Kenny had nothing. He examined the area and noticed a little booth that was selling a few things.

"I'll be right back!" He said to Kenny as he started to head towards the booth. "Don't move!"

Kenny did as he was told and watched as other South Park citizens past by him. He got a few looks from girls, who were eyeing him as if he was candy in a candy store. Just as a couple of them were getting the courage to come up to the hooded man, Butters came running back.

"Hey, Ken! Sorry it took so long, I couldn't decide what to get." The girls quickly walked away at the arrival of the bubbly boy, obviously not wanting to deal with the naïve teen.

"You bought something?" Kenny asked, curious as to why he couldn't go with him.

"Yeah," Butters handed the other boy a small paper bag. "I felt bad for taking the drawing and your prize, so I thought you might want something." Kenny eyed the bag, not sure what to do. "Come on! Open it! I'm getting anxious if you'll like it or not!" Kenny slowly opened the bag and took out the single object that was inside. He held a brown, leather bracelet with a buckle design in his hand.

"Well?" Butters nudged Kenny, getting worried that the other wasn't showing any reaction. "Do you like it? It's wasn't expensive or anything, but you can think of it as a thank you for hanging out with me."

Kenny gripped the bracelet and lowered his head, letting his hood cover his whole face. "Why?" He asked, not liking that his voice came out scratchier that he would have liked. "I… I don't deserve this."

Butters couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood closer to the other boy and placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to get his attention. "What are you saying? Of course you deserve it. I'm giving it to you! You could have ditched me at any time, but, instead, you gave me your prize at the Dart Game and you let Bebe draw a picture of us together and then proceeded to let me keep the picture. I didn't want you to be empty handed and I thought you might have liked a gift as a memento for the day." Butters lifted Kenny's hood up, so he could look into his eyes to show how serious he was, but was shocked when he saw Kenny's eyes were teary. "Kenny? Are you okay?"

Butters quickly ushered Kenny away from the prying eyes, knowing that Kenny wouldn't want people to see him crying. They found a bench away from the others, and Butters sat Kenny down on it before sitting next to him. "Kenny, what's wrong? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Kenny shook his head and tried to take a deep breath to explain, "I'm not used to this." He showed the bracelet to Butters, but before he could ask, Kenny continued talking. "Nobody has given me a present in years. My parents no longer celebrate the holidays, declaring that we're all too old for Christmas or Easter. Everyone seems to have forgotten my birthday. Karen doesn't need me anymore. Stan and Kyle have stopped trying to listen to me. The teachers have given up on me. The only way anyone acknowledges me now is if my fist is in their face." Kenny took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down. "Even the girls, who look at me, just want me for one thing. Today has been the first time in a long time that someone has treated me like a human."

Butters quickly took hold of Kenny's hand, noticing that it was turning white from how hard he was clutching the bracelet. "Kenny, I've never thought of you of anything but human. I'm sure Stan and Kyle think the same way; they just weren't sure how to reach you. I've always thought of you as a good friend of mine and I've actually missed hanging out and talking with you. Kenny, I like you, a lot and I need you. You've helped me so much in the past and I would hate for you to end up unhappy, because you think you don't exist. I acknowledge you for who you are; which is a nice, funny, and good-hearted guy." Kenny looked up at Butters and finally made eye contact with the other boy. Kenny felt a warmness he hadn't felt in a long time and true smile stretched out on his face.

"Thank you, Butters," Kenny said quietly. Butters took the bracelet and put it on Kenny's wrist.

"It looks good!" Butters exclaimed, his usual bright smile showing on his face. Kenny was about to reply, but suddenly they heard their names being shouted out in the distance.

They looked over and saw the rest of their group coming towards them. "We've been looking for you guys everywhere! What are you doing over here?" Kyle asked, seeming agitated that he was forced to run around the whole festival.

"Why didn't you just call us?" Kenny asked, reaching for his cell phone.

"We did," Stan answered. "You're battery must have died, because we couldn't reach you." Kenny looked at his phone and saw that Stan was right, the screen was pitch black.

"We're going to ride a couple of rides," Cartman stated, taking a bite of cotton candy that he had.

As they walked past the food stands and carnival games, they could see the few rides that were available. "Let's ride that one!" Cartman pointed at one that was called The Voyager. It was one of those rides that swung back and forth and went higher and faster as the ride went on.

"Seems good to me!" Stan voiced, already getting in the short line. Kyle and Cartman followed behind him.

"Do you wanna ride it?" Butters asked Kenny, feeling the need to let him express his opinion.

Kenny gave Butters a smile and nodded his head. "If you want to, but this time I get to pay." Butters nodded in approval and they got in line. After only waiting for a few minutes, they were able to get on.

"I wanna sit in the back!" Butters said cheerfully, already moving to the back of the ride. Kenny quickly followed him without even thinking about it.

Stan and Kyle sat in the middle on the same side as Butters and Kenny, while Cartman sat in the back on the opposite side with the cotton candy still in his hands.

As the ride started, Butters unconsciously grabbed hold of Kenny's arm and started screaming his guts out. Kenny laughed throughout the whole ride, finding Butters' facial expressions and the few profanity words that slipped through his lips hilarious.

When the ride stopped, Butters realized what he was holding onto. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He apologized, quickly letting go.

"It's fine," Kenny reassured, feeling a bit unhappy when Butters' warmth from his hand was gone. Kenny looked at the other rides and saw the Ferris Wheel, a wicked smile crossed his lips. "There's something I want to ride."

Butters looked up, surprised that Kenny was actually suggesting something. "Of course! Which one do you wanna ride?" He asked, excited that Kenny seemed to be opening up. The older boy pointed at the Ferris Wheel.

"Are you guys going to ride the Ferris Wheel?" Stan asked as he came up to them, noticing that Kenny was pointing towards it.

"Yep! You fellas wanna come?" Stan and Kyle both shook their heads and gave Kenny an odd look.

"No, you two can go. We're going to ride the bumper cars since the carnival part is about to close," Stan answered. The four of them agreed to meet up at the entrance afterwards. They looked around for Cartman, but he had already rushed off to who-knows-where.

Kenny and Butters approached the Ferris Wheel and were happy that there was no line this time. They were able to immediately get on and situate themselves into their individual seats. As they sat in front of each other, Butters struggled to think of a topic.

"Do you like the Ferris Wheel?" Butters asked, not sure what else to say.

"It's okay," came the vague answer from Kenny. Butters looked at him confused and tried, again.

"Then, why did you want to ride it?"

"So, I can do this." Kenny moved from his seat and sat down right next to Butters.

"That's not very safe!" Butters said, worried their passenger car might tip over.

Kenny moved closer to Butters, which made Butters tense up. "Ken?" Butters said, trying to keep his voice calm. "I don't know if you know this or not, but I'm gay." Butters was by no means in the closet, but he didn't exactly tell everyone that he had a thing for other guys either. The only person that he had verbally told, other than his parents, was Stan, because he had asked him one day after catching him eyeing one of the new teachers. Most people just knew, though.

"I had a hunch," Kenny answered, but didn't back away. Instead, he got even closer. "Did you know that I'm bisexual?" Butters almost lost his jaw by how far it fell open. Of course, there were rumors that went around, but since Butters had never seen Kenny flirt with other boys or even look at them, he simply dismissed them as ridiculous rumors. He never thought that Kenny could be an option for him, not that he didn't look. Kenny was attractive, no denying that. "Hey," Kenny said, getting Butters attention back to reality. "There's something else I want for today. Is it okay if I get it?"

Butters vaguely nodded, not able to take his eyes away from the boy next to him. Kenny slowly leaned down and Butters felt a pressure on his lips. For a second, Butters didn't know what was going on, but soon the situation hit him and he immediately closed his eyes and kissed back. He couldn't believe this was happening. Kenny's lips were warm and rough against his and he couldn't ask for anything better.

They slowly broke apart and Kenny looked into Butters' light blue eyes. He hadn't felt this happy in a long time. He gently pushed his forehead to Butters' and quietly whispered his appreciation, "Thank you for acknowledging me."

Butters whispered back, not wanting the moment to ever end, "Anytime."

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